Trump's clemency for Roger Stone wipes away fine, supervised release

U.S. President Donald Trump's executive clemency to his longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone not only commuted the veteran Republican operative's prison term but also spared him a hefty fine and two years of supervised release.

Who is Roger Stone?

As a long-time adviser and friend of Trump, the 67-year-old was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to the U.S. Congress in 2019.

The details of the clemency arrangement were made public by the Justice Department and Stone's lawyer on Monday after the judge who presided over the case asked the Trump administration to explain whether the commutation announced on Friday meant he would not be supervised, as many convicted felons are after being freed.

Roger Stone is seen after Trump commuted his federal prison sentence outside his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., July 10, 2020. /Reuters

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson had set a Tuesday deadline to receive a copy of Trump's clemency order along with an explanation about whether it also commuted the period Stone was meant to be supervised after leaving prison.

"I commute the entirety of the prison sentence imposed upon the said Roger Stone, Jr. to expire immediately," according to Trump's order.

"I also commute the entirety of the two-year term of supervised released with all its conditions, and finally, I remit any unpaid balance of the 20,000 U.S. dollars fine imposed."

Reprieve of Roger Stone and abuse of American justice system

Congressional Democrats and other critics have accused Trump of abuse of power and an assault on the rule of law.

Stone was sentenced to three years and four months in prison after being convicted by a jury in Washington last year of lying under oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Stone was found guilty of all seven counts against him. The commutation did not erase Stone's conviction as a pardon would have.

Stone was due to have reported to a federal prison in Georgia on Tuesday. Trump's action marked his most assertive intervention to protect an associate in a criminal case and his latest use of executive clemency to benefit an ally.

Stone's attorney Grant Smith, who tweeted out a copy of Trump's order, said it speaks for itself in answering the judge's inquiry.

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced that the president signed an executive grant of clemency commuting the prison time of Stone, calling him "a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency."

(With input from agencies)